3925 Espresso has faced court after being charged with breaching child employment laws

Managers of a Phillip Island cafe are in hot water after allegedly being busted employing children under the minimum working age.

3925 Espresso, Phillip Island, faces eight criminal charges in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria alleging it breached Victoria’s child employment laws by hiring a child below the minimum working age and hiring a child without a permit.

A Phillip Island cafe is in hot water after being slapped with eight criminal charges relating to breaching child employment laws.

The charges allege DYR Investments Pty Ltd, trading as Espresso 3925 in Newhaven, illegally employed a child below the working age and hired a child without a permit.

The company appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The state’s child employment watchdog, Wage Inspectorate Victoria, alleged the business illegally employed a child below the minimum working age on several occasions in April last year.

If found guilty the company could face a fine of more than $145,392.

3925 Espresso, Phillip Island, faces eight criminal charges in the Magistrate Court of Victoria alleging it breached Victoria’s child employment laws by hiring a child below the minimum working age and hiring a child without a permit.

The investigation into 3925 Espresso began when Wage Inspectorate officers made unannounced visits in Phillip Island, San Remo, Wonthaggi and Inverloch as part of a proactive compliance campaign focusing on regional restaurants, cafes and fast-food outlets.

Officers entered workplaces on the Bass Coast over two days last year to raise awareness of child employment laws and to check that hospitality businesses were complying.

In Victoria, provided an employer obtains a child employment permit and complies with Child Safe Standards, it can hire a child to do delivery work from 11 years and to do other types of work, such as in hospitality and retail, from 13.

The business will reappear in court later this year.